Posted on November 10, 2005

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Boston Foundation Report Challenges Generosity Rankings

Massachusetts's ranking as the second stingiest state in a widely read index that rates all fifty states according to how much local residents give to charity is being challenged by a new report sponsored by the Boston Foundation.

Geography and Generosity: Boston and Beyond was commissioned in part because the Generosity Index, published by the Catalogue for Philanthropy, has consistently put Massachusetts at or near the bottom of its rankings. But Paul G. Schervish, director of the Boston College Center on Wealth and Philanthropy and co-author of the new report, claims the index is inaccurate because it is based on income tax returns, which give it a built-in bias that favors low-income states such as Mississippi and penalizes high-income states like Massachusetts.

Moreover, said Schervish, the index fails to take into account significant state and regional differences in tax burdens, cost of living, and patterns in giving to secular and religious institutions and causes. Using the index's formula, he noted, Mississippi would not fall below twenty-sixth in the rankings, even if no resident of the state made a charitable donation.

In the report, Schervish argues for a different way to understand the idea of generosity — not as a narrowly competitive status on a single incremental list, but rather as a complex attitude that factors in significant regional differences. "Dr. Schervish has achieved something truly remarkable with this study," said foundation president and CEO Paul S. Grogan. "He has put our understanding of philanthropy onto a foundation of fact rather than hunch. And he confirms what many have suspected: the residents of Massachusetts give generously and well to causes and ideas that matter to them."

To read or download the report (48 pages, PDF), visit: http://www.tbf.org/uploadedFiles/GenerosityReport_10-30-05.pdf.

“New Boston Foundation Study Debunks the 'Myth' of Massachusetts' Stinginess.” Boston Foundation Press Release 11/08/05.

Primary Subject: Philanthropy and Voluntarism
Location(s): Boston, Massachusetts

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